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That is definitely unfair, in many regions of America police officers are very power corrupt. But, where I am from it is the exact oppisite, we have a very strong sense of anonymous community, combine this with the fact that the police are in constant fear of crime syndicates who have offered protection to the populace, the police are almost underpowered. It is really quite a delema to find a livable balance.

I simply not surprised. I see African-Americans pulled over to be searched when they weren't doing anything wrong or looked suspicious in any way. It's truly no surprise that a "black" man was arrested over such a petty excuse. I find it normal, being an African-American, that this happened.

Ava&Sig by Ravona

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." -William Shakespeare

umm........ I'm I the only one who noticed that America has a 'Black' President?

If the country was really that raciest would that have ever happened?

Also shouting excessively, the cop turns up doing his duty and risking his life as he does not know if the so called robbers are armed. He is in his right to ask for ID, what is the need to ask for the cops badge number? and become disorderly? this is not about race this is about some guy who thought he was too big to be dealing with a low paid cop, and a cop who did not like being spoken to by someone who thinks that cops have no power.

the police wanted to talk with Professor Gates outside his home. I've read conflicting news reports of the incident but the main reason i could see the police wanting to talk to you outside your home is because they dont know whether or not your family members are being held hostage and you are saying everything is fine because the robbers told you to say that. i disagree with why Professor Gates got arrested. its not because of racism, its because of plain stupidity.

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

umm........ I'm I the only one who noticed that America has a 'Black' President?

If the country was really that raciest would that have ever happened?

Also shouting excessively, the cop turns up doing his duty and risking his life as he does not know if the so called robbers are armed. He is in his right to ask for ID, what is the need to ask for the cops badge number? and become disorderly? this is not about race this is about some guy who thought he was too big to be dealing with a low paid cop, and a cop who did not like being spoken to by someone who thinks that cops have no power.

I agree to this extent, probably not racism. BUT once the cop Identified Gates as the Home owner, why did he need to LURE him outside the house, is it so that he can have better excuse for arresting this man?

The Cops business was to make sure the Two men forcing the door were not criminals. He did that already. When Gates asked for his Badge number, the Cop should have given it and left the premises.

I strongly feel that allowing cops to arrest law abiding members of the public because they feel disrespected, especially a home owner in his own property, is the wrong thing to do. It weakens the rights of citizens, and empowers brutish, temperamental, egotistical cops.

This sort of thing would probably not be done here in North Dakota where I live, because the citizens and public officials will not tolerate it

I am not perfect andI defy you to prove otherwise Growing Old Gracefully is an Oxymoron ... Mostly Moron !

why did he need to LURE him outside the house, is it so that he can have better excuse for arresting this man?

prepare for wall of text!

well i read the police report, which was linked as a reference at the bottom of the wikipedia article, and it says that the officer went outside because gates was making so much noise inside that he could use his radio properly. i don't exactly understand why though. my old understanding of this is that gates was making so much noise that the he would have been heard over the officer while the officer was using his radio.

now, i haven't seen anything from gates' perspective other than statements made by his lawyer (which i personally find lame. since the charges were dropped, he should be willing to come out and personally say what happened, but, again, i do not know if he did) so i only know what happened through the police report, which would most likely be biased. so, based from the police report, i find that this is gates' fault for: not, calmly, providing his ID to the officer to prove that he was the resident of the house; yelling without reason and overreacting; not listening to the officer when he said that he was not there because he saw him breaking in but because someone else reported it to the police; not asking the officer what the problem was, preferably while the officer was inspecting the provided ID; ignoring the officer and getting on the phone while he was being talked to, which is just plain disrespectful; telling the officer he didn't know who he was messing with, which leads me to believe gates is kind of a jerk if he's the type of person to say such a phrase; and insulting the officer with a "yo mama" joke, which, come on... seriously?

yes they both overreacted and the officer might have arrested him out of spite, but he would never have had gates simply acted calmly. after reading just the intro paragraph on gates' wikipedia page, i would think he'd be a rational enough person to not overreact and immediately play the race card.

now, if gates asked for the officer's badge number, im not sure but i think that's something that they have to provide you with and i suspect that the officer did not give it to him and tried to leave the house and leave the situation to the other officer because gates was likely talking on the phone with the police department.

i'll state that i'm hispanic and not a racist in case i somehow came across that way. if it had been me in that situation i would have just given the officer my ID. even if he was racist and wanted to come inside to "investigate" i would just do as he asked because there is nothing in my house that i wouldn't want the police to see and he'd just be wasting his time. i can sort of understand why people would be upset in the same situation but, since i'm a very non-confrontational person, i just accept that racism is something i have to live with and in my experience with racism i was completely unaware and didn't notice it was happening until later when someone i was with, who happens to be a black friend, pointed it out to me.

i mention my friends race because i thought it was of importance and i'll explain the situation i was in. using spoiler tags so this post doesn't seem as big.

Spoiler!

when i was around 15 or 16 (i dont remember anymore lol), i was with my friend, in the downtown area of the town i lived in, and we decided to go inside of a store. the register was to the right of the door about 10-15 feet (~3-5 m for the metric peoples) from the door and to the left was the store as well as some stairs that led to the downstairs section of the store. we, along with the sole employee of the store, were the only ones in the store. what happened was that while we were looking around the store we decided to look through the downstairs section of the store and while doing so the only person working at the store followed us downstairs and sat on the stairs and watched as we looked around. at some point my friend noticed he was watching us and, without telling me we were being watched, said that we should leave. after we'd left my friend asked me if i thought something was weird while we were at the store, to which i replied with a 'no.' then she told me what we were being watched while we had been looking around downstairs and said she thought the guy was racist.

now you can decide for yourself whether or not you think he was being racist. i haven't hidden anything to try and make my argument. i didn't think that race was a factor, if anything was a factor it was our age. the register being on the 1st floor and him being the only one working, i thought he was doing his job by watching us to make sure we weren't stealing, not because my friend any i are minorities but because we were alone on a separate floor. i don't know about you, but if that was my store i would have done the same thing in his place regardless of race. i mentioned this story because i think sometimes those of us that are on the short end of racism tend to see it when its not there, or tend to be quick to assume that if we are singled out it's because of our race and not something else.

i'll also mention that if some nosy, good Samaritan, "do-gooder" had just minded her own business and moved on with her life this would have never happened. seriously? as you're walking along, you see a guy using his shoulder to get into a house and he's there with an old(er) man, that uses a cane, and you think they are breaking in? my first thought would be that the old guy's son or grandson is helping the old guy get in because the door isn't working properly. IMO, the woman who called in was the racist.

again, my opinions are based on the police report. if i find something with gates' testimony of the event or if someone links one, i will change my opinion based on what it says.

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.

I appreciate your input. As I have said I too don't think it's racism. I have aproblem with Cops arresting people in their homes and leading them away in handcuffs for "disorderly behaviour" , when at the worst, a ticket would have sufficed in this case.

Somehow I just don't think this is the best Ideal of America. Again thanks for the input.

I am not perfect andI defy you to prove otherwise Growing Old Gracefully is an Oxymoron ... Mostly Moron !